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December 25.207.0 <br />Tammy Sal¢y <br />Ramsey opts to renew contract for city <br />newsletter <br />by Tammy Sakrv <br />Staff writer <br />Last fall, the Ramsey City Council began a par- <br />tnership with Youth First Marketing (YFM) to sell <br />ads for and to produce the city newsletter. <br />Since then, the company has failed to turn in seve- <br />ral invoices, owes the city $8,180 for its 50 percent <br />share ofthe adrevenue andwas requiredto change <br />its business name. <br />Although the city is owed money, the councff voted <br />S-2 Dec.14 to continue the partnership with owner <br />Scott Robinson and his new business, Wheels of <br />Thunder, to produce the city newsletter. <br />Councilmembers David Jeffrey and John Dehen <br />voted no. <br />According to City Administrator Kurt IDrich, Ro- <br />binsonhas assumed all of the obligations of YFM <br />and the city will be handling the payments from <br />advertisers and dispensing the payments to Wheels <br />of Thunder of Anoka. <br />A <br />a <br />d <br />w <br />0 <br />T <br />c <br />y <br />0 <br />v <br />.. <br />x <br />Wheels of Thunderwillproduce the newsletter and <br />work with advertisers for free until the amount <br />owed to the city has been paid, he said. <br />After that, Wheels of Thunder will receive SO percent <br />of the advertising revenue. <br />The $8,180 should be paid off with the February/ <br />March newsletter advertising revenue, Robinson <br />said. <br />"I'm not a fan of going back in this direction," said <br />Jeffrey. <br /> <br />He is concerned that Wheels of Thunders will be <br />able to cut deals to get ads that are not consistent <br />the rate schedule set by the city, he said. <br />If Wheels of Thunders is out there doing business <br />for the city, he wants to make sure only the city has <br />the ability to cut the deals, Jeffrey said. <br />Robinson has agreed on a set ad rate with no de- <br />viations, i-rich said. <br />The city has had a negative historywith this vendor <br />and the company has not provided the information <br />on its ad sales as city has asked for, according to <br />Dehen. <br />While he can understand mistakes and computer <br />crashes, Dehen said it was more of an issue of trust <br />for him. <br />"When people don't show trustworthiness, it's time <br />to cut bait and move onto someone else," he said. <br />If the city does not sign a new contractwith Wheels <br />of Thunder, Mayor Bob Ramsey said he does not <br />knowhowthe citywill collect the $8,180 Robinson <br />owes the city. <br />A lot of businesses fell behind in paying for their <br />ads, Robinson said regarding why full payments <br />were not sent to the city. <br />According to the August 2009 contract, YFM was <br />supposed to sell the ads for the newsletter and SO <br />percent of the proceeds were to go to the city, 7 per- <br />cent to Youth First Community of Promise (YFCoP) <br />and the remaining 43 percent was to go to YFM. <br />http:/labcnewsp ape rs.com/2 0 1 011 2/2 5 /ramsey-opts-m-renew-contract-fnr-ciry-newsletter/ <br />C' GIy €,' i' <br />